§4 SPENCER’S JOURNAL 
may have handle several feet in length. The mussel is a very 
large one, with usually a very strongly marked ‘lip’ to the 
shell, both valves, and grows only in fairly deep -water always 
below low tide, about io to 12 feet, or even deeper. When 
boiled the tuft of hard chitinous threads easily pulls out and 
the whole of the rest is edible, though the adductor is some¬ 
what inclined to be tough. Still it is, when boiled, not very 
tough, and readily breaks up into threads. The whole of the 
mantle is very soft and swollen with ova. The whole of the 
foot is very soft, and seems composed of what are probably 
glands connected with alimentary canal. It has no muscle 
fibres detectable. In colour when boiled, with the mantles in 
position, it looks like a great giant broad bean, pearl-grey and 
slightly lavender and pink, with the muscle a creamy colour. 
In flavour it is much like a delicate crayfish. The natives 
were very fond of it, judging by the numbers in their kitchen 
middens, but it is only met with in certain parts. 1 
Large sea-urchin, resembling Strongylocentrotus , is called 
a-kiss. The ligament is always bright red with a fluid which 
rubs off on the hand. The Yaghans sometimes use it to draw 
lines of red on the face. Easily stains the skin when fresh. 
The case of the sea-urchin is broken open, the alimentary 
canal and sand washed out, and the five double rows of eggs 
eaten raw. Also eaten raw by‘whites’. ( 5 ) Erizo in Spanish. 
June 5 , Saturday . Clear frosty night. Ken and Enrique 
left at 10.15 ln cotter for Hoste Island to bring back two 
men who had been left there in search of skins. When taking 
them, they had to haul a rowing boat for three miles over a 
‘camino’, and over ice and snow. Had talk with Ken about 
mountain lakes of which there are several on Navarin. 
Evening reading Darwin ( Beagle ). 
1 Lappa is the Yaghan name. Life size drawing ‘taken from its shell’ in text. 
From number on specimen, it would appear to be Mytilus magellanicus (Dillwyn). 
The Yaghans call the barnacle growing on it Leppa. 
